Claude Monet, Bassin aux nymphéas, les rosiers, 1913, (Courtesy
of China Guardian).
The 1913 oil depicts a summer view of
Monet’s beloved Giverny garden, where a vibrant rose arch overlooks a pond of
water scattered with waterlilies. Typical of the artist’s mature style, at 73cm
by 1m it is the largest of the three oils that depict his garden from this
view.
Claude Monet’s Bassin
aux nympheas, les rosiers sold for RMB 154.1 m (around $24.1m, with
fees) at the first-ever Impressionist and Modern art sale of the leading
Chinese auction house, China Guardian. That price makes the Monet the most
expensive Western work of art ever sold in mainland China, beating the previous
record set last November, when Gerhard Richter’s Column sold
for RMB80.5m ($12.65m, with fees).
The seller is thought to be the billionaire business magnate Wang Jianlin, who was known for collecting Chinese painting and calligraphy at first, but has since broadened his tastes. The auction catalogue shows the last owner bought it from Sotheby’s in New York in 2015, and Wang’s company collection director once publicly said that it was the buyer.
In the past, works by Western Impressionist masters have rarely been presented on the mainland market. But China’s booming economy and growing art market, plus rising number of public and private museums, have naturally grown interest in western canons, says Hu Yanyan, the president of China Guardian.
